MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

6/24 Baez, Bryant named to Futures Game

Half of the Cubs’ so-called core four, shortstop Javier Baez and third baseman Kris Bryant, will showcase their talents at the All-Star Futures Game, to be played July 13 at Target Field in Minneapolis. Baez and Bryant, the Cubs’ first-round picks in 2011 and ’13, respectively, who are now teammates on Triple-A Iowa, were named to the event on Tuesday. Baez will play for the World team and Bryant will play for the U.S. team.

Heading into today’s game in Des Moines, Baez, 21, was batting .226 with 11 home runs, 11 doubles, two triples and 42 RBIs at Iowa. Bryant, 22, hit his fifth home run on Tuesday in the first inning of Iowa’s game. At Double-A Tennessee, Bryant led the Southern League in batting average (.355), home runs (22), and RBIs (58). He was promoted last Thursday.

Bryant has been on the fast track since he was selected second overall in last year’s First-Year Player Draft. In less than a year, he has moved up in the Cubs organization, beginning at short-season Boise. He played in the Arizona Fall League last October, and won Most Valuable Player honors. Bryant won the Golden Spikes Award as the top collegiate player in the country after hitting 31 home runs at San Diego.

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